Brown County High School’s Class of 2021 bid farewell to one of the most challenging school years yet and started anew last week.

Despite changing school schedules, quarantines and canceled events, 147 students crossed the graduation stage in front of their families May 28.

This year’s class was the first class to attend Brown County Intermediate School and the first class to spend a total of eight years together.

"We are here today to not only celebrate a graduation, but for all the first experiences we have had together," said senior speaker Natalie Suding.

"Through this small step of coming together during fifth grade, we all learned from the experience and came closer together."

Now they are the first class to have experienced a worldwide pandemic for an entire school year.

"We have been the first class to go on online school, first to do a hybrid schedule, first class to wear masks in school, and for some, the first time being quarantined," Suding said.

"I know this was hard, we all dealt with the suffering and annoyance of this pandemic, yet, here we are today as again we survived and persevered through the pain of a senior in a pandemic."

Unlike last year’s graduation, which was split up over several days, with each senior walking the stage individually in front of a small group of family, this year’s was in-person as a group, but with some restrictions. Students, staff and guests all wore masks. Students were given four tickets each for the ceremony. Some students took their masks off when accepting their diplomas.

Senior Elise Slaybaugh said that since this class stepped into the high school in 2017, the goal has been to continue stepping towards graduation, but that no one could have predicted how the world would be then.

"As our junior year ended and our senior year began, those steps were often harder, full of uncertainty and just a little bit sadder. But with strength and resolve, we kept going, we kept achieving, and we are now just moments away from moving that tassel," she said.

"Regardless of what we pursue, what we achieve or where we go, never forget that Brown County High School will always be the foundation where we built our dreams."

"We, the Brown County High School Class of 2021, are probably more prepared to face the challenges and obstacles of life than any graduating class before us," she continued.

Assistant Principal Chuck Hutchins presented this year’s class and he had only one piece of advice for them: "As you come across this stage tonight to get that diploma, I want you to think of it as a fuse as you light the match," he said.

"As you leave here tonight, go and set the world on fire."

May 28 was also Superintendent Laura Hammack’s last day with the school district as she will begin as the superintendent of Beech Grove City Schools in June. She said this year’s graduating class was special because their last year was impacted by the pandemic, but they are also special because they did not allow it to define them.

"You have proven to be resilient through adversity, joyful in disappointment, courageous in fear, and resolved when uncertainty was all around us," she said.

"While I’m sorry that these conditions were experienced during a time when you should have been experiencing nothing but joy, I promise that the disposition you have adopted during these most challenging times will serve you very well throughout your next chapter and subsequent chapters of your life."

Hammack led the class in the turning of their tassels and ultimately the ending of their time in the high school.

"Our prayer for all of you is that wherever you go and whatever you do, you will know that you are loved, that you are called for a great purpose," she said.

"And that Brown County will always be your home."

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Commencement 2021" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

<strong>Summa cum laude:</strong> Lauren Akles, Abigail Angebrandt, Megan Bickley, Wylah Brahaum, Morgan Cowan, Cheyenne Dinsmore, Travis Ely, Lillian Giles, Kaya Gore, Calla Imming, Emelia Koester, Jascyn Martin, Francesca Mata, John Oliver, Dalton Platt, Katianna Richardson, Ricky Stanley, Natalie Suding, Morgan Wison and Parker Wilson.

<strong>Senior speakers:</strong> Natalie Suding and Elise Slaybaugh

<strong>Master of ceremonies:</strong> Megan Bickley

147 graduates

14 technical honors diplomas

29 academic honors diplomas

20 summa cum laude honors

7 magna cum laude honors

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